Tamba Hali Leads Kansas City Chiefs and Literally Sacks The San Francisco 49ers

Alex Smith got up slowly as he stared at his offensive line teammates after getting slammed to the turf again at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Smith couldn't have predicted the storm that he and his teammates ran into today. Heck, I'm not sure Kansas City could have even predicted what happened on this bright, September day.

That storm was the Kansas City defense and Tamba Hali was leading the charge all day, making life difficult and miserable for Smith and the rest of the 49ers.

Hali, the former first-round pick of the Chiefs, turned in arguably his best game ever in the red and gold. He finished off the day with three sacks and a forced fumble, while showing all Chiefs fans everywhere shades of Derrick Thomas with his play.

Although Hali played out of his mind on Sunday, it was really the play of the entire Chiefs defense that took over the game for KC. Shaun Smith was plugging gaps, Ron Edwards was pushing over O-lineman, and Derrick Johnson, Eric Berry, and Jovan Belcher were tackling everyone in sight.

The D also helped set the momentum for the game. It wasn't until Brandon Flowers' first half interception that the Chiefs started to wake up as a team and start to really roll put the wheels in motion.

After a lack-laster start to the game, the Chiefs scored almost immediately after they got the ball from Flowers' acrobatic play.

KC quarterback Matt Cassel ended up throwing three touchdown passes and the running game got going as it amassed 207 yards for the day. As the game went on, it seemed that nothing could stop the Chiefs train from rolling down the tracks.

The first half was for the most part a blur, as the Chiefs took a 10-3 lead into halftime. 

The second half started with the Chiefs defense setting the tone, and it ended with a bang as KC finished off San Francisco with five sacks and one very frustrated quarterback. Much of this was due to the elevated play of Hali.

If there was an MVP for Kansas City, it was without a doubt Tamba Hali. This is the kind of effort that Chiefs officials were hoping to get out of Hali every game when they drafted him in 2006.

After Sunday's game, they can start expecting it to happen more often in the future.